SSFL 24: MoE officials allegedly recommend St Benedict’s sanctions over “Zoom Zoom” registration

St Benedict’s College’s 2024 Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division title chase—or, more accurately, the school’s use of form four student Derrel “Zoom Zoom” Garcia—now appears to be under probe by no less an authority than the Ministry of Education.

And the implications can go far deeper than a football trophy, with acting principal Gregory Quan Kep potentially facing a trip to the Teaching Service Commission.

St Benedict’s, the current leaders, face second place Presentation College (San Fernando) from 3.30 pm today at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella for what is likely to be the decisive game of the 2024 Premier Division season.

A win or draw for the “La Romain Lions” will give them a seven-point lead over Presentation. And, even with a game in hand, the “Pres Lions” will not expect to make up that ground.

However, Presentation can pull within a point of Benedict’s with a win and potentially go two points clear if they follow that up with a triumph over St Augustine Secondary in their rescheduled fixture on Saturday.

One way or the other, the gifted “Zoom Zoom” is likely to be a factor on the football field tomorrow—and off of it.

Garcia, who has 10 goals from seven matches so far this season, has a strong case to be considered the best footballer in the schools’ football league. But is he a legitimate student?

The initial findings of a probe from Ministry of Education officials suggest otherwise in an explosive report that could cast a shadow over the 2024 Premier Division season.

In September 2023, Garcia, then ostensibly a form three student, jetted out of Piarco International Airport to start an internship at the Intercity International Academy in Alicante, Spain.

Two documents related to Garcia’s move were recovered by the MoE officials. First, correspondence from Intercity on 7 June 2023, which offered the national youth player an internship from August 2023 to May 2024.

CF Intercity, according to its website, offers “programmes lasting from one week to 10 months”, which allow participants: “the chance to have specific training sessions with our professional coaches, learn Spanish for football in order to accelerate your adaption here in Spain, and to train with the teams in the club structure in order to have a chance to be signed as a player.”

It is uncertain whether CF Intercity were paid by representatives of the player, as is often the case in such internships. Garcia’s move there—alongside National Under-14 player Sebastian James—was facilitated by Cox Coaching School.

Soca Warriors midfielder Michel Poon-Angeron did a similar internship in Argentina roughly five years ago, which did not lead to a professional contract. However, teenaged Trinidad and Tobago midfielder Dantaye Gilbert transitioned from his internship in Europe to a professional deal at Jong PSV in the Netherlands.

On 6 July 2023, Garcia’s mother, Krystle Garcia, wrote to St Benedict’s to request “study leave” for her son to move to the Spanish team.

Neither document related to Garcia’s move to Spain, according to Ministry of Education officials, was forwarded to the ministry for “processing”, nor were they logged in the school’s official correspondence records.

Findings from the Ministry of Education also suggest that principal Quan Kep did not sign or stamp the document.

For the academic year 2023–24, Garcia allegedly remained on the school’s class register. However, he never attended classes.

Regardless, Garcia represented St Benedict’s in the NGC SSFL Super Cup on 9 September and scored a hattrick in a performance that earned him the man of the match honours and gifted his school the trophy at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Four days later, on Wednesday, 13 September, Garcia scored again in a 4-3 loss against San Juan North Secondary at Bourg Mulatresse.

According to findings from Ministry of Education officials, Garcia had not attended school for four months at that stage.

Garcia did not represent St Benedict’s on the football field for the rest of the 2023 season and is only known to have returned to Trinidad to play in the Concacaf Under-20 Qualifying Championship.

St Benedict’s, who won the 2022 Premier Division crown, went trophyless in 2023.

On 30 August 2024, Ministry of Education officials indicated that the St Benedict’s principal submitted Garcia’s registration form for the SSFL, “claiming that Derrel was a bona fide full-time student of St Benedict’s College.”

In truth, the talented footballer had not attended school in over a year and was not believed to be in the country at the time.

Ministry of Education guidelines state that any student who misses an entire school term needs to be reinstated by the government to re-enter the school system.

On 25 September 2024, Garcia’s mother, according to the MoE probe, wrote to principal Quan Kep requesting reinstatement for her son at St Benedict’s and guidance in relation to the steps necessary for his return.

However, according to government officials, the parent’s letter—like the previous correspondence—was not signed or stamped by the principal nor logged in the school records. It was also not forwarded to the Ministry of Education.

There was allegedly no official record or entry showing Quan Kep’s approval of Garcia’s reinstatement at the school. Yet, he was placed in form four.

On 8 October 2024, Ministry of Education officials found the first record of Garcia’s attendance at school since 30 June 2023. By then, he had already worn the captain’s armband for St Benedict’s College on three occasions in the 2024 season.

Notably, Garcia represented St Benedict’s on five occasions during his absence from his school’s register—twice in the 2023 season and three times in the 2024 season:

• (Sat 9 Sep 2023) x Fatima College: Garcia scored a hattrick in a 4-3 win;
• (Wed 13 Sep 2023) x San Juan North: Garcia scored once in a 4-3 loss;
• (Wed 2 Oct 2024) x San Juan North: Garcia featured in 1-0 win;
• (Sat 5 Oct 2024) x Fatima College: Garcia scored twice in a 3-1 win;
• (Mon 7 Oct) x St Anthony’s College: Garcia scored in a 2-1 win.

On 5 October 2024, as Garcia reintroduced himself to SSFL with a match-turning performance against Fatima College, former Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) technical committee chairman and Malick Secondary coach and teacher Keith Look Loy raised several questions in relation to the player’s eligibility in a Facebook post on Wired868 (see below).

St Benedict’s win over Fatima saw the Premier Division leadership change hands, and the southern outfit have been first ever since.

An SSFL executive committee member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the governing body did not look into Garcia’s return.

“It wasn’t raised to us for us to check,” said the official. “If a school enquires, we will check it.”

The Ministry of Education did check, though. And, based on initial findings, officials allegedly recommended that Quan Kep be suspended from duties and investigated for breaches of Regulations 62, 77(1)(b)(d) and 77(2)(e)(f)(g) of the Education (Teaching Service) (Amendment) Regulations 2000.

A formal investigation into the principal, according to sources, could only be conducted by the Teaching Service Commission. The average timeframe for such a decision was placed between six months and a year.

Regulation 62: A teacher’s conduct shall at all times be such as would not bring the Service into disrepute.

Regulation 77.1: A teacher who without reasonable excuse does an act which –

• (b) contravenes any of the Regulations;
• (d) is otherwise prejudicial to the efficient conduct of the Service or tends to bring the Service into disrepute;

commits an act of misconduct.

Regulation 77.2: Without prejudice to the generality of subregulation (1), a teacher who –

• (e) commits any immoral, obscene or disorderly conduct in office;
• (f) performs the required duties in a negligent manner;
• (g) exercises authority unreasonably, or abuses that authority in the course of performing required duties;

commits an act of misconduct.

The government officials also recommended that the Ministry of Education should inform the Secondary Schools Football League of possible breaches of the SSFL rules and regulations by St Benedict’s College.

SSFL president Merere Gonzales, when contacted by Wired868 yesterday, said he had no knowledge of any findings against St Benedict’s and, specifically, the registration of Garcia.

He admitted that the SSFL Credential Committee could check on the registration of any player independently—but he could not say if that was done in this case.

“I don’t know if any check was done,” Gonzales told Wired868. “I will have to get back to you on that.”

Up until the time of publication, Gonzales did not return to the subject.

Wired868 also reached out to an official St Benedict’s representative for comment regarding concerns about Garcia’s registration and a response from the school principal. None was forthcoming.

At present, St Augustine Secondary are before the Appeals Committee for their use of a player (Shumba Cudjoe) deemed to be unregistered by the SSFL’s Disciplinary Committee.

With the “Green Machine” in mid-table and the schools likely to benefit (St Anthony’s College and Signal Hill Secondary) outside of the relegation zone, the eventual ruling is unlikely to significantly alter the final standings.

The case of St Benedict’s registration of Garcia, though, could be a different story.

Garcia has represented St Benedict’s seven times this season and helped the “La Romaine Lions” to accumulate 19 points.

His expected appearance today against Presentation College, in SportsMax’s feature match, was always going to be a talking point.

Findings from Ministry of Education officials suggest that can be considered an understatement.

Editor’s Note: Derrel Garcia scored once and had a hand in the other goal as St Benedict’s College defeated Presentation College (San Fernando) 2-0 on 23 October 2024, to make a significant step towards their second Premier Division trophy.